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The electrical insulation of the Megavolt ITER Injector and Concept Advancement (MITICA) beam source (BS) at 1 MV in vacuum is a challenging issue, which could not be fully addressed so far on the basis of experimental results and of theoretical models available in literature. A specific high-voltage (HV) test campaign is being prepared to validate and optimize the voltage holding capability of the BS insulation under realistic conditions, using full-size mockup electrodes reproducing in detail the geometry of the BS and accelerator. The proposed test strategy will address both the single-gap and the multistage insulation, so as to obtain a verification of voltage holding at 1 MV before the installation of the real components. This approach is intended to reduce the risk related to the HV insulation at 1 MV and, if necessary, to allow the development of effective corrections. In this article, the test motivations and requirements are defined, and the electrode implementation and diagnostic setup are described. Finally, the test configurations and the experimental procedure are discussed.

Context: Pregnant women are exempted from the current seatbelt legislation in Japan despite the fact that seatbelt use is essential to reduce the risk of fatalities for these women and [...]

Objectives: To clarify why seatbelt legislation did not achieve the expected reduction in mortality in Japan. Location and background: Seatbelt legislation was enacted in Japan in September 1985 and penalties [...]

It is important to evaluate whether a new treatment for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) provides additive benefit to background foundational treatments. As such, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of empagliflozin in patients with HFrEF in addition to baseline treatment with specific doses and combinations of disease-modifying therapies.

Tensile tests on high purity Fe-P alloys with 0, 0.05 and 0.1 mass%P were carried out at temperatures between 300 K and 1073 K to clarify the intrinsic effect of phosphorus on the mechanical properties of iron at elevated temperatures. Microstructures of as-quenched, interrupted and ruptured specimens were observed. Experimental results show that the addition of phosphorus causes a remarkable increase in proof stress of high purity iron at 300 K, but the increase in proof stress by phosphorus decreases with increasing test temperature. The strengthening effect of phosphorus reduces to zero at 1073 K. High purity iron and Fe-P alloys rupture at almost 100% reduction in area at the whole test temperatures. However, Fe-P alloys show much larger elongation at test temperatures above 773 K than high purity iron. The increased elongation of high purity iron by addition of phosphorus was shown to be related to the effect of phosphorus on dynamic recovery and recrystallization of iron as its intrinsic effect.

Fasciolaspp. were collected from naturally infected cattle at a local abattoir of Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam, for morphological and genetic investigations. Microscopic examination detected no sperm cells in the seminal vesicles, suggesting a parthenogenetic reproduction of the flukes. Analyses of sequences from the first and second internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) of the ribosomal RNA revealed that 13 out of 16 isolates were of Fasciola giganticatype, whereas three isolates presented a hybrid sequence from F. giganticaand Fasciola hepatica. Interestingly, all the mitochondrial sequences (partial COI and NDI) were of F. giganticatype, suggesting that the maternal lineage of the hybrid form is from F. gigantica. No intra-sequence variation was detected.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the feasibility of gasless laparoscopically assisted myomectomy (LAM) using a wound retraction system. This method treats symptomatic uterine myomas by combining laparoscopy with a mini‐laparotomy to enucleate myoma nodules and to close the uterine myometrium.

Results of investigations into surface processes of the formation of germanium and silicon nanostructures are analyzed. A mechanism of three-dimensional island nucleation and relaxation of strained two-dimensional layers in heteroepitaxy of germanium in silicon, which initiates spontaneous island growth, is considered. The oxidation of the silicon surface prior to germanium or silicon deposition drastically alters the growth mechanism, leading to the formation of islands with an extremely high areal density of 1012 - 1013 cm[?]2 and with sizes of less than 10 nm. The effects of spatial quantization determine their properties. Moreover, arrays of these islands form a unique surface for the growth of Si layers that are able to emit photons in the 1.5-1.6-um wavelength range.

An investigation was carried out of the factors influencing the toughness of flash welded high strength steel plate.1 It was explained that the major factors for toughness degradation can be summarised by the following: there is an inclusion factor, that is oxides which remain at the weld interface and act as the starting point for fracture and the inclusions within steel which tend to be parallel to the weld interface due to metal flow; there is a microstructural factor, that is degradation of the microstructure due to coarsening of former g grains, a localised softened layer at the weld zone centre and the texture formed where there has been heavy rolling. Consequently, in order to secure toughness, a reduction of oxides at the weld interface and an improvement of steel material purity are required for the former case and the post weld heat treatment is required for the latter.

A novel hole-transporting poly[di(1-naphthyl)-4-tolylamine:DNTA] (PDNTA) has been developed. PDNTA was easily prepared by oxidative coupling polymerization of DNTA using FeCl3 as an oxidant. This polymerization produced regiocontrolled PDNTA with high molecular weights. PDNTA exhibited strong UV−vis absorption bands at 267 and 370 nm in chloroform solution. Their photoluminescence spectra showed a maximum peak band around 445−448 nm in the blue region. The organic light-emitting device (OLED) prepared by spin-casting PDNTA solution onto ITO-coated glass substrate in conjunction with Alq and LiF/Al, as an electron-transporting light-emissive layer and a metal cathode, respectively, showed a maximum luminescence of 25 000 cd/m² at 12.5 V.

We have determined crystallographic structures of four thiophene/phenylene co-oligomers with different molecular shapes. The compounds consist of the molecules straight, bent, or zigzag. All the crystals are monoclinic with space group either P21/c or P21/n, Z = 4, and the unique axis of b. The crystals are characterized by the presence of the molecular layered structure in which the molecules form the well-known herringbone structure laterally spreading along the ab-plane. We investigate the molecular disposition in the crystals and present its peculiarity in relation to those comprising nonstraight molecules (e.g., bent or zigzag). The specific effects upon optical characteristics produced by this peculiarity are mentioned.

Carrier transport characteristics in organic field‐effect transistors were compared for vapor‐deposited thin films and epitaxially grown needle crystals of biphenyl‐capped thiophene oligomers with different lengths of the thiophene units. The hole mobility of the thin films deposited on Si/SiO2substrate was improved up to 0.17 cm2V–1s–1by formation of platelet crystallites with a domain size of a few micrometer. The hole transport in the epitaxial needle crystals grown on the KCl surface depended upon the molecular orientation with respect to the channel direction. The orientation of the needle axis bridging over the source–drain electrodes increased the mobility since π‐electronic interaction through the parallel stack of the linear molecules enhanced the carrier transport along the needle. The deposition condition and electronic energy levels of the oligomers, depending on the length of the thiophene units, also affected their characteristics.

We report here a novel method for assembling macromolecules in a sequential order. Individual DNA molecules can be prefabricated into a linear micrometer-sized pearling chain, or colored bar, under trapping with a focused IR laser, by using a suitable chemical agent, Chol-PEG-A (poly(ethylene glycol) with amino- and cholesteryl-pendant groups), to complex with DNA. Using the laser, these fabricated bars can then be pieced together into a complex structure. This approach could be useful for the further development of micromanufacture using macromolecules as nanoelements.

The CO interaction with Au⁺/dealuminated H-mordenite as well as with the nondealuminated samples, at room temperature, after evacuation at different temperatures (343, 393, 453, and 573 K) has been studied by in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The Au⁺−CO band at 2192 cm^-1 of the dealuminated sample showed a remarkable thermal stability on raising the temperature (till 473 K) for the degassed sample at 393 K, compared with the nondealuminated one. It has been revealed from the X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses that the nonframework Al species were formed and embedded inside the zeolite lattice. The latter species were found to be responsible for the stability of CO coordinated Au⁺. The XPS data also showed the easier reduction of Auⁿ⁺ species in the nondealuminated sample compared with the dealuminated one, as revealed from the peak area ratio Cl 2p/Au 4f. Adsorption of CO onto Au⁺/dealuminated H-mordenite, after evacuation at 343 K, produced a broad band at 1949 cm^-1 attributed to bridged bonded CO species. This was confirmed by the relative increase in intensity of this band (Au−CO−Au) compared with the linearly bonded one at 2192 cm^-1 during thermal evacuation till 473 K. The temperature-programmed reduction profile of Auⁿ⁺/dealuminated H-mordenite samples revealed, in concordance with the IR and XPS data, the better stability of the Au⁺ state in dealuminated samples as compared with nondealuminated ones.

Twelve patients underwent reconstruction of injured finger joints using our technique of a vascularized transfer of the second toe proximal interphalangeal joint. The age of the patients at operation ranged from 7 to 47 years and the postoperative follow-up was 9 to 48 months. All the joint transfers survived and united with resolution of the preoperative joint pain, deformity and instability. The average range of motion of the reconstructed joints was 59° in the proximal interphalangeal and 54° in the metacarpophalangeal joints. No patient complained of pain or functional deficits in the donor foot.

The O–H vs O⋯O correlation in OHO hydrogen bonds is briefly reviewed based on the development during these twenty years and the geometric isotope effect ΔRis revised including the new data. It is pointed out that the following still remains to be settled: (1) whether or not the O–H distances in asymmetric bonds for the same O⋯O distance scatter in short hydrogen bonds at low temperature; (2) whether there exists or not the exceptional compounds that exhibit the extraordinarily large geometric isotope effect (∼0.1Å); (3) where the critical hydrogen-bond distance is located; and (4) the peculiar hydrogen-bond geometry and its origin in high-pressure ice.

Cubic GaN films were grown on Si (001) coated with an ultra-thin flat SiC buffer layer under both Ga-rich and N-rich conditions. The SiC buffer layer (thickness of about 2.5nm) was grown by carbonization of Si (001) substrates in C2H2(pressure of 5×10−6Torr) at 970°C. The GaN films prepared under the Ga-rich condition had a local atomically smooth surface. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the main defects in the GaN films are stacking faults along the [11̄1>] and [11̄1>1] directions. Plan-view TEM showed that the dislocation density within grains was much lower than the overall dislocation density in the GaN films. The dislocation density within grains was about 4×105cm−2. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and TEM showed that the GaN films had a mosaic structure. The full-width at half-maximum of the (002) XRD peak of a 0.82-μm-thick film was 19min, one of the lowest values reported so far for cubic GaN films. And the GaN films prepared under both Ga-rich and N-rich conditions showed a strong near-band-edge photoluminescence. Yellow-band luminescence and donor–acceptor recombination peaks were also detected when the GaN films contained more extended defects and/or native-point defects.

The dynamic behavior of the multi-span continuous beam traversed by a moving mass at a constant velocity is investigated, in which it is assumed that each span of the continuous beam obeys uniform Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. The solution to this system is simply obtained by using both eigenfunction expansion or the modal analysis method and the direct integration method in combination. The effects of the inertia and the moving velocity of the load on the dynamic response of the continuous beam are evaluated for three kinds of continuous beams having uniform span length.